Improvement in head-rests for coffins



W. W. BALL. Head-Rest for Coffins.

No. 210,395. Patented Dec. 3, 1878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

WILBER W. BALL, OF BANGOR, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEAD-RESTS FOR COFFINS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,395, dated December 3, 1878; application filed April 19, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILBER W. BALL, of Bangor, in the county of Van Buren and State of Michigan, have invented an Improvement in Spring-Pillows, of which the following is a specification:

The nature of my invention relates to the construction of an adjustable spring-pillow or head-rest, designed for the use of undertakers in the preparation of bodies for burial; and the invention consists, first, in the devices for adjusting the position of the head-rest, and, further, in the construction and arrangement of the various devices composing my improved coffin-rest, as fully hereinafter explained.

Figure l is an elevation of my device ready for use with the rest at its lowest point. Fig. 2 is a like view with the rest at its highest point. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the instrument in the position shown in Fig. 2, showing rest adjusted to one side. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, showing the instrument folded and ready for transportation. Fig. 5 is a detached view of the locking-bar.

Like letters indicate like parts in each figure.

In the drawings, A represents a rigid bar, provided with slots a. B B are slides, which have a reciprocating movement upon said bar, and they are provided with thumb-screws O O, which, passing through the slides and the slots, will hold the slides in any desired position. The inner ends of these slid es terminate in sockets b, tovrec'eive the inwardly-bent ends of the braces D D. The opposite ends of these braces are also inwardly bent to engage with the sockets c, which are secured to the under side of the spring-rest E, as shown. A lookbar, F, slotted at each end, as shown in Fig. 5, is slipped onto the braces at their point of crossing each other, as shown in Figs. 1., 2, 3, and 4. The outer ends of the spring-rest are slotted, as shown at d, and when the device is folded for transportation, as shown in Fig. 4, these slots engage with the button-heads of the thumb-screws O C. These screws also secure the feet G G in place, so they may be adjusted to any desired position.

To prepare the device for use, when in the position shown in Fig. 4, the thumb-screws should be turned to disengage them from the slots d, when the spring-rest E will assume. the curved position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Pushing the slides B B toward the center of the bar raises the rest to the desired height pushing the locking-bar to either side from the center gives a side tilt or adjust-ability to the rest, as shown in Fig. 3, and the lockingbar holds the rest firmly in any desired position. An adjustable spring-plate, H, is secured to the upper side of the springrest to afford a broader face to the rest when placed in the position shown in Fig. 3.

This device will be found very convenient for those who. are engaged in preparing the bodies of deceased persons for burial by furnishing an adjustable rest for the head and neck while the hair is being dressed, the face being shaven, or while adj usting the dressing for the neck.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a head-rest for coffins, the combination, with the bar A, of the slides B B, havin g setscrews O O and sockets b, substantially as described and shown.

2. In a coffin head-rest, the combination, with the slides B B,'of the braces D D and head-rest E, substantially as described and shown.

3. The improved adjustable coflin-rest consisting of the adjustable slotted bar A, the slides B B on such bar, the braces D D, connected at one end to said slides and at the other to the head-rest E, the slotted lockingbarF, and the headrest E, having the plate H, all substantially as described and shown.

' WILBER W. BALL.

Witnesses:

H. S. SPRAGUE, G. J. HUNTER. 

